Sunday, August 25, 2013

All nonprofits want and need volunteers. Volunteers are literally the lifeblood of
most public charities. No matter how
much money an organization raises, they typically can't afford to hire paid
help to do everything.

Volunteer hours have a monetary value as reported by
Independent Sector in this report: http://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time.
The generally accepted average overall value is currently $22.14 an hour, and
this figure is further broken down by state in the above-referenced report. The
state values range from $15.58 in Mississippi to $34.04 in the District of
Columbia.

This is important in many areas but from the standpoint of
grant applications, it provides both a yardstick for community involvement and
a source of those elusive matching funds required for some types of grants. It
also conveys a sense of how efficiently the nonprofit is managed.

In late 2012 I was working with a client to obtain funds for
one of their programs. The application
required an invitation from the grantor after submission of a one-page letter
of introduction/inquiry. The LOI sailed
through, and the client was invited to submit a full application for a maximum
award figure of $25,000, with a matching requirement for $10,000.

One of the requirements was:

"Enter the total number of volunteer hours for the most
recently completed fiscal year with a breakdown of how they were applied.
Documentation may be required at a later date." followed by a table:

How used

1st quarter

2nd quarter

3rd Quarter

4Th Quarter

Total for FY 2011

Administrative

Fundraising

Subject Program

Column Totals

Not only did the client not have documentation of the hours,
they had not tracked how they were used. It wasn't that they didn't have
volunteers, but as one of the principals said:
"We are just happy when people show up to help. We don't count
noses or keep track of hours for each one. After all, they aren't employees".

No matter how many times I tried to get even ballpark figures
the client simply would not comply with this requirement. In general, they felt
that having set attendance requirements, tracking hours and applying them to
specific categories "…takes away from the spirit of volunteering" to
quote the program director.

Since they would not
and could not produce substantiating documentation for any estimates, I
couldn't include even a guesstimate in the table provided. Although we made a
general statement to the effect that they held four events a year staffed by
volunteers, and the organization had sufficient cash to meet the matching
requirement, they didn't get the grant. They just didn't or wouldn't understand
the impact that not providing the documentation would have on their
application.

It is true that volunteers are not compensated for their
time. However, their contributions of time should be tracked as carefully as
though you have to pay them $22.14 an hour for every hour they help. They should
be entered into a volunteer logbook, and some effort should be made to assign or
at least document their contributions.
Volunteer management is, or should be treated as a sort of quasi-human
resources function. Each program or task they help with should be traceable to
a specific benefit to your organization.

As nearly as I could determine, this organization got about
400 hours a year from their volunteers. Leaving out the management aspects of
effective volunteer recruitment and management, why would you not want to track
volunteer contributions?

Monday, August 19, 2013

To all the people that requested Climbing the Ladder to
Nonprofit Success-Thanks! To the "marketing guru" that emailed me
to tell me I was missing "an awesome monetizing opportunity" - I'm not
interested.

I'm not exactly stupid when it comes to marketing, internet or otherwise. I know about landing pages, and "free" offers that require me to
enter my email just to look at something to see if it I want it. I couldn't
even begin to count all the content pieces I've written for that type of
campaign. Those marketing/sales techniques do have a place in many industries.
If just getting subscribers to view your blog is how you make money, or you have a
product that many people use, but lots of competition in the same product line,
I get being able to mass email your contact list constantly. I really do
understand top-of-mind branding.

That isn't what I intended to do when I wrote Climbing
the Ladder to Nonprofit Success. That's why I gave you MY email address. If
you are interested in starting a nonprofit the right way, or struggling with
one that didn't start with a good business model, I figure you'll contact me. If
not, bombarding you with a sales pitch every week isn't going to make you a
client. That's when I become known in a negative way. "OMG! Another
email from that pest again!" is not
how I want you to remember me.

What does all this have to do with YOUR nonprofit funding
plan?

Don't be a robo-fundraiser

There are certain organizations that seem to live on seemingly
never-ending cycles of email or direct mail appeals, especially around the holidays.
We all get them. Every few days there is an email or a fundraising letter in
the mail. Pretty soon, the intended recipient simply drops them in file 13 or
its electronic equivalent on the way to opening the rest of the mail. Even at nonprofit
presort rates, that is expensive. The marketing firm that produces the appeal materials
doesn't work for free. And we wonder why their fundraising costs are 50%-plus
of their budget?

Robo-mailing typifies the way many nonprofits approach
fundraising. Nag, nag, nagging for money or shot-gunning your grant
applications aren't always viable plans. It can be an ineffective,
time-consuming and expensive way to turn off your donors. Purchasing
one-size-fits-all mailing lists costs money.

One of my services is researching probable matches between
funding sources and a specific nonprofit. Some people email me with a request to
"send out up to 100 applications for grant funds". It ain't gonna
happen. If I can find 12 good matches, that is a rarity. A half-dozen or so
really good prospects per grant cycle is more like it.

Why less really is
more

Are there 100 foundations, corporations or government grants
that generally support your type of cause?
Maybe…but they aren't all a match. Some are not geographically matched,
some are already locked in to supporting specific nonprofits, some require a
depth of organizational development that your nonprofit simply can't provide at
the time, and some actually don't support your specific mission at all. Just
because they say they support youth doesn't make them candidates for a pitch
for advanced dress designing classes for girls 8-13. Researching grants takes
time and in-depth analysis. Why not spend your money to develop a really targeted
campaign?

Spend Wisely

That's why I offer fund raising planning services. That can
be a part of a larger strategic plan, or a stand-alone service, but the idea is
to focus your time (and money) on developing customized strategies that
actually have a chance of succeeding.

Get a focus. Develop a real plan. Know when you will need
money and think ahead, not a week or a month, but a year or even five years ahead.
For that you'll need a budget, a easily explainable program and verified
positive outcomes. Develop these now, not when we're writing the grant, because
making it up as you go along is not a strategy. And if you need help, give me a
shout. Helping you to succeed is what I do. Just drop me a line at granthelp@ida.net.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

In response to several requests for a compiled pdf version of my blog posts as they relate to getting started, I am offering "Climbing the ladder to nonprofit success". Just email me at granthelp@ida.net and I'll send it to you.

Note: This is not an in-depth how-to manual, but more of an overview of the processes and reasoning needed to open a formal nonprofit. If you have questions or need assistance, give me a shout.

Cat food for shelters, rescue groups, sanctuaries and other
animal welfare organizations. Applicants must be municipal agencies or
organizations with 501(c)(3) status. The application deadline is September 16, 2013.

The Children's Literacy Foundation is accepting grant
applications from public libraries in Vermont or New Hampshire towns with 5,000
or fewer residents. The application deadline is September 16, 2013.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

I got a call yesterday from a local nonprofit. The nice lady
on the phone spent about three minutes telling me all about the organization. She
gave me a synopsis of what they support, their mission statement, even their
web URL. At the very end, she said, "Thank
you for taking the time to let me tell you about (the organization name). Can
we count on you to support us?"

Support it how? Do
you want money? Volunteers? Are you
having an event? What specific thing will my support accomplish?

This is a problem with many smaller nonprofits. They don't
complete the ask. Maybe it's because they are trying to avoid the hard sell,
maybe they are uncomfortable with having to ask for money, who knows?

I get just as annoyed as anyone else when the first words
out of the telemarketers mouth are the name of the organization and the dollar
amount. You know, the ones that start out, "this is the Blank Society and
we are calling to let you know we are sending out a donor envelope for $25.00.
Can we mark you down for that amount?" Uh…no. That approach almost always
gets you hung up on at my house.

In between those two approaches is that sweet spot that gets
you what you need. If the local lady had simply told me in about one minute
that they were the Blank Nonprofit trying to support X cause, given me their
name, location and their URL, and told me they would appreciate a donation for
$25.00 that would provide X benefit for a recipient, I probably would have been
more inclined to either say yes, or counter with another amount.

I fully appreciate that many smaller organizations are using
volunteer fundraising personnel that don't do cold calling for a living. Work
up a script, and have them practice calling each other or role playing until
they are comfortable with the spiel. Try to keep it short, but informative. Above
all, specifically ask for the money (or time, if that's what you need). If the
answer is no, and it often will be, thank them graciously and move on.

One well known nonprofit uses the tactic of visual images
and a targeted monetary appeal. "Just $xx. a month will (feed, clothe,
educate, whatever) a (deserving recipient)." That is about as short and yet effective as
it gets, and that nonprofit raises millions and millions of dollars every year,
$x at a time.

Asking for money is a part of nonprofit survival,
particularly for new or smaller nonprofits that may not yet be ready to apply
for grants. It's a learned skill, but you can learn to do it well.